* A/N I do not own Avengers, Marvel, or anything related to the movies. I only own my own character. Contains spoilers for the Avengers and Captain America: Winter Soldier movies.

In the quiet neighborhood, the stillness of the night was broken by the boisterous laughing coming from The Cavern, a small pub located at the end of the street. Normally the streets were bustling, but at this time in the night, it was dark and bare. A man stood in the shadows, watching the back door intently as he breathed softly, hiding the crystals his warm breath made in the cold winter night.

18 year old Arianna Hart stepped out of the pub, dumping the trash into the bins and dusting her hands. She checked her watch, and was relieved that it was time for her to clock out. Just as she was about to turn back inside, she paused, sensing a presence. She slowly swiveled back around, her eyes scanning the dark alleyway as she slowly reached behind her to grasp the doorknob. Just then there was a rustle, and she almost screamed as a man tackled her just as a gunshot sounded, pulling her behind a bin. But he blocked her mouth and she was left breathless from the sudden movement as hazel eyes briefly met blue eyes, before the man quickly stood up and shot an arrow in the direction of the gunshot.

She blinked, unsure if she was seeing the scene correctly, as the man ducked down beside her, only to quickly draw another arrow, duck out the side of the bin, and shoot it again. This time, instead of returning to cover, he slowly lowered his bow and stood. Arianna watched warily as he flitted away briefly, presumably to check his target, before he was back in front of her staring down at her without emotion. She also stood very slowly, watching him as carefully as he seemed to watching her but her eyes kept flitting around to check her surroundings as well.

Just as she straightened her back, she became aware of another presence at the entrance to the alley and she tensed. "No need to worry. We're safe… well safer." The new man's voice chuckled. Finally, the archer turned away from her, moving his stance to be facing the new man and Arianna slowly turned around to faced the man. He was unassuming, his build clearly saying he wasn't a fighter but fit enough that if Arianna hadn't been trained in various martial arts, he would probably be able to subdue her. Arianna's eyes narrowed, not liking how she was sandwiched between the two men. The newcomer seemed to notice her discomfit, and he waved his hand. Immediately, the archer moved away, heading over to stand next to the body of Arianna's would-be killer.

"Arianna Hart. My name is Phil Coulson, I work for the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or SHIELD." Arianna raised her eyebrow. "You might want to just stick with the acronym." She muttered, and she heard the archer snort. Phil Coulson chuckled: "Yes, I've been told."

"You might want to listen then." Arianna retorted. This time the archer gave a louder snort, and Coulson sighed, before he continued: "Now, I'm sure you know what we must be here for." Immediately Arianna tensed. "Actually, no." She responded flatly. "Miss Hart, have you heard of the CIA?" Arianna gave a small sarcastic smile even as she cringed inside. "Yes, everyone has. A not-so-secret organization of spies for our country."

"Very funny." Coulson sighed. "Miss Hart, let me explain what SHIELD is. We are an independent organization of agents dedicated to security and peace." Arianna frowned as she glanced at the archer and then her eyes flickered down to the body before she refocused on Coulson. He nodded. "There are also others out there like him- it's the reason SHIELD exists really. To protect innocent lives from people like them."

"While I suppose I am grateful you saved me, why are you telling me this? Why was that man targeting me in the first place? I doubt even if you save random girls, you don't normally send an archer and tell them about this… SHIELD." Arianna glanced at the archer again.

"You are quite right. The truth is, part of the reason you were attacked tonight is our fault. We've been tracking you, you have some qualities we could use." Arianna frowned at that. "What do you mean, 'use'?" She asked suspiciously.

"We would like to hire you." Coulson explained. "You are extremely skilled in mixed boxing, taekwondo, and karate. You are also a junior champion gymnast, particularly good with the batons. Your skills of observation and preservation instinct, while they could be polished, are above average."

Arianna sighed. "I'm not that special. Sure I dabble in different sports, but anyone else out there could be just as good. So thanks, but…" "We started tracking you because you hacked into the CIA database." The archer suddenly said bluntly. Arianna closed her eyes, and exhaled sharply.

"I'm not sure what you mean." She suggested, but Coulson replied: "Miss Hart, we know you hacked into the CIA database; you would have been issued with a summon to JV or at least issued a warning, but we overlooked it because of two reasons." Arianna waited as Coulson smiled. "First of all, we were impressed by your impressive skills and after finding out more about you, we decided you were the potential we are constantly looking for."

Arianna waited, becoming impatient as Coulson's pause continued. "And?" She asked eventually. The archer's lips quirked and Coulson continued to grin at her. "And you hacked the CIA because you had figured out the code for an international terrorist plan. So you left friendly hints for them to figure it out. That responsible, and just attitude- it's what we need. The one thing that can't really be taught."

Arianna pursed her lips. "You said hire," she began and Coulson nodded. "Yes." He said and Arianna frowned a little. "You also said espionage." She pointed out. Coulson nodded again.

"We would hire you as our computer technician officially, but we'd like to ask you to join our spy operations- specifically, strike team Delta. You'd work with Barton, here," he nodded at the archer and Arianna glanced at him, "and one other person."

Arianna sighed, shaking her head. "You're explaining so much to me, you seem confident I'll join. What makes you think I'd accept?" She mused, and Barton grinned at last as he said: "Because you're a single child with a poorly mother, so responsible that you juggle three jobs to help support yourself and her, clever but too busy for college as you're desperate for money. So you've enrolled in online courses, you're ready for work, and you're lying about your age to get a well-paying job here."

He gestured at the pub. Arianna stared at him, and Coulson said gently: "SHIELD will pay you well, and we'll put you through the best online college and all the education you need. We'd essentially sponsor you, in exchange for your commitment and agreement to work long-term, and you'd be doing good for the world."

Arianna looked at them. "Why me?" She asked a last, and Coulson smiled at her. "We told you- you're what we need." "But don't think we'll go easy on you because of that." Barton interjected. "You'll still need to train hard; the job's not easy and we'd be expecting you to put your life on the line every time. You're saving people, but it's from the shadows. I mean that. No coming home to a peaceful family life."

Arianna snorted. "Sure, because my life has been so peaceful." She muttered, before giving the two men a long, contemplative look. She glanced again at her would-be killer. She thought about the good she could do. Finally, she thought about her sickly parents, and the silent house she often came home to. She took a deep breath.

"I'm in."

They weren't kidding when they said training would be tough. In her first six months at SHIELD, Arianna was almost certain she'd die before she even went out into the field. She was trained for five hours in the morning with the regular recruits, was given an hour for lunch break, and then six hours of training in the afternoon with Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff in various forms of defense and martial arts.

It was highly unusual for the two arguably best agents at SHIELD to personally train a new recruit. But Clint, and Strike Team Delta's handler Phil Coulson, had been adamant and SHIELD's director, Nick Fury, had caved and given the green light. Barton and Coulson were confident that Arianna had what it took, and Barton particularly was anxious that she get the best training she could, knowing what it was like out in the field.

Arianna's day would always end in study. For three months, she studied arms, weaponry, strategies- anything useful for a fighter's survival. For the three months after, she studied concealment, psychology, sociology- anything useful for a spy's survival. She was also expected to hone in on her intellectual skills, and so would spend the early hours of the day in either the tech rooms or the labs.

She was eating, breathing, sleeping, and working at SHIELD at all hours of the day. At the beginning, she thought she would die right there. Although her muscles were in good condition and she was used to running on low levels of sleep, she was nowhere near prepared for the program SHIELD put her through. Every part of her body ached and it became normal to be sporting bruises all over her body.

But three months in, her body became used to the abuse and her improvement skyrocketed. She flew through everything SHIELD was throwing at her, and in her fourth month she managed to pin Clint down. Arianna would never forget the proud look that flashed in his eyes- before he flipped her onto her back again.

By month six, she'd managed to pin Natasha down. She had been terrified of the woman's reaction, but the experience only drew the two closer. Arianna had the feeling that by proving her worth, she'd been accepted as a teammate by the aloof Russian assassin. It was around that time that she also discovered a talent with knives, Clint joking that he should've guessed since her specialty in gymnastics had been the batons.

A few days later, in May 2008, Arianna was accepted into MIT. Natasha raised her brows, impressed, while Clint had just laughed jubilantly and bought her flowers to celebrate… after kicking her ass in the boxing ring first. Coulson had also congratulated her, sending her a box of chocolates and lilies- her favorite flowers.

By the next month, she'd reached clearance level 5 and had dropped out of regular training, spending all her time working with Strike Team Delta, or in the labs, or studying her college courses. It was also the first time she went out into the field. She was accompanied by Clint on her first mission, and she sailed through it smoothly, although she did blow up an entire factory.

Clint had just shaken his head, laughing at her back when she'd had to sheepishly explain the situation to Fury, who'd raised his eyebrow while Coulson stood behind him looking very amused. It would be the beginning of a steady track record of successful missions for the brunette as the months flew by and she showed only improvement.

Before she knew it, Arianna had been with SHIELD for a year. Her one year mark at SHIELD was also quite possibly the worst anniversary she could have asked for. Strike Team Delta had been sent on a mission to Budapest. Those few days were quite possibly the worst in Arianna's life. Between Clint getting captured, Natasha freaking out, and Arianna getting shot in the stomach, it was a miracle they made it out at all. Arianna had never seen the redheaded Russian so frazzled until Budapest.

The three agents, upon completing their missions and managing to become exiled from the city after blowing a hole in a treasured monument, had sworn to each other to keep what had happened there a secret. One good thing did come out of the whole mess. Natasha and Arianna had seen eye-to-eye after Clint's capture, and it was then that the two became firm friends. Clint had beamed when Arianna had opened her eyes after surgery and he'd found the two speaking on a first-name basis.

18 months in, Arianna was promoted to level 6 clearance. She would never forget Coulson's proud look as he handed her the promotion, nor the way Clint and Natasha's eyes had lit up when they heard the news. It was perhaps the fasted promotion in SHIELD history, although Coulson never confirmed it for her. He simply, indulgently, informed her that she was possibly the youngest level 6 in SHIELD history at age nineteen.

She was finally sent out on her first solo mission, and it went without too many hiccups… although she burnt down a building in her escape. She'd winced as Fury had looked at her disbelievingly while Clint howled with laughter. Coulson had sighed, and asked her why she always left some form of destruction behind on any of her 'first experiences'.

A month before her 20th birthday, her mother passed away. It almost broke Arianna's heart, but Clint, Nat, and Phil were there to support her through the ordeal and in truth, it was somewhat relieving to see her mother finally at peace after struggling for so long. Phil sat her down seriously to discuss her future, but she chose to stay at SHIELD and with STRIKE team DELTA, having found the family she had never known.

About six months after her 20th birthday, Arianna broke. She'd been in Russia on a recon mission that had gone horribly wrong when Arianna's SHIELD partner had turned on them. Natasha had been furious and frantic, but could do nothing for fear of the Red Room finding her. Arianna was gone for four days before SHIELD managed to send in a rescue squad. When Clint had stepped into her cell, his heart had almost stopped. The girl's brown hair was matted with blood, her body bruised and bleeding as deep jagged cuts lined her. She'd been hanging from her arms limply, unconscious, her hands cuffed to the walls.

But the physical torture had been nothing compared to the mental torture she had to endure. Horrific images scarred her mind from the many drugs the Russian organization had injected her with, and Clint spent many sleepless nights waiting for Arianna to wake up from the drugs, screaming as nightmares danced through her mind. Natasha had left on a mission the day after Arianna's return, unable to stay and watch. She'd gone straight back to find the bastards, and returned three weeks later with her goals accomplished.

Natasha had entered Arianna's ward to find a thin and weak girl with hollowed eyes grinning weakly at her. She'd pursed her lips, before moving next to the girl. Looking carefully into her eyes, she saw the terrors still there, deep inside, and with a low sigh, the Black Widow had gently pulled the girl into a hug. Arianna had hesitated, biting her lip before bursting into tears. Natasha glanced across the room at Clint, but Hawkeye stood with his jaw set and his eyes tight.

The two stayed to watch over the girl protectively, and after three months of intense training and psychological help, Arianna was back to her cheery self. But the shadow was now there, and all of them knew without anyone speaking, that it would always be there to haunt the girl. Her eyes, which still often sparkled with mirth, were now darker and she drew a cold wall around her to those outside her circle, now cautious to trust. It was never spoken of, but Clint and Natasha saw the death of a child's soul in the hardened hazel eyes.

Once Arianna was deemed recovered, she and Natasha were moved to California after an alert was raised on Tony Stark. Arianna was hired first as an intern in the lower levels of Stark's company; her mission was to dig around and find what was wrong with the man whose self-destructive tendencies were beginning to affect SHIELD.

Natasha was hired three days later, under the alias Natalie Rushman and was ordered to work her way up Stark's company to keep watch on the man. She eventually managed to become the personal secretary for Stark's girlfriend, Pepper Potts, and made contact with Tony Stark when he signed the CEO position over Miss Potts

Natasha revealed herself to Stark about a week later when Director Fury demanded to meet the man himself. It was deemed more important to keep Arianna under wraps while Stark's nerves were still on edge, as SHIELD did not think he would react very well to the offer of help from their agents. When the incident with Stark's failing Arc reactor and the Hammer Industries threat blew up, Arianna was also pulled out to help Natasha and Stark. Strangely enough, she and Stark bonded over the incident; maybe because she had been the one to save him when she'd found him dying in his Malibu mansion.

Although Stark consequently ordered SHIELD and Natasha out of his company, he privately asked Arianna to stay in contact. Tony had been impressed with her technical talents and her pursuit of a Computer Science degree at MIT, his own alma mater, and her light-hearted humor and calm temperament were a good contrast to his sarcastic and reckless nature. He claimed he wanted to stay friends because he was intrigued with her hacking skills, but Arianna recognized the lonely soul in the genius and good-naturedly agreed to stay friends with the man. They maintained contact throughout the year, Stark often aiding her in her degree when her work piled between various missions in between.

The day after the Stark incident, Arianna was called in the middle of the night to join Clint in New Mexico where she was a witness to the strangest event ever. She had been keeping an eye on a man called Thor who had been after an immovable hammer that SHIELD had been monitoring after it crashed on Earth. Her mission ended that day in watching Thor almost being killed, before regaining his Norse God powers and his hammer. She reported back to base after Thor disappeared into the sky, ready to end his battles back on his home planet, Asgard.

Two days after that, Arianna sat watching the news as the Hulk was unleased into the world. She watched the recap, and the twenty year old had simply shaken her head sadly at the consequences of an experiment gone horribly wrong. She'd read several of Dr. Banner's papers, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man who would now have to live the rest of his life carrying the burden of his mistake.

A few weeks later, and two days before her 21st birthday, Arianna stood before Coulson once more as she was promoted to level 7. Clint and Natasha were present for the promotion, and while all three of them congratulated her, they couldn't help but feel a small loss as they each examined the pretty but darker young woman standing before them. She had seen their looks, and just smiled at them, causing Clint and Natasha's lips to tug into small answering smiles while Coulson cheerfully announced he would be treating them to dinner.

Almost a year later, in early May 2011, Arianna graduated from MIT. Tony flew in, causing an uproar as everyone wanted to get to meet their famous alum. Clint and Arianna all slapped their hands over their faces when Iron Man arrived at the graduation ceremony- the last thing Arianna needed as a spy was attention, but it seemed Tony Stark could not live without it. Thankfully, though, when he saw Arianna's less than impressed face, Tony got the message and left with a cheery goodbye.

He apologized later when he came over in a much quieter manner to the celebration dinner Coulson had organized. She'd just laughed at him, before thanking him for coming anyway- his appearance had taken away the attention from her at the fact that she had managed to graduate in three years, despite continual absences. The evening ended in laughter as they all saw Tony's horrified face at the fact that he'd missed Arianna's 21st last year. The smile slid off Arianna's face however, when Tony declared he needed to make it up and spent the rest of the night chasing the brunette girl in an attempt to get her to drink twenty-one shots.